Stepping Stones
by Cari-Chan The Otaku
Summary: Alfred just moved into Vanville Town. Now he's supposed to meet a colorful cast of characters that this Professor Rome has given a task to? Sure, why not? After all, he gets his first Pokémon out of it. Pokétalia/Pokemon-Hetlia!AU As of now, a one-shot


**A/N: And here it is! A random Pokétalia fanfic.**

**I love Pokétalia and there aren't enough fics out there so I decided to make my own :)**

**It's just a short start to Alfred's Pokémon adventures that may or may not be updated. It all really depends on how popular this will get.**

**Thank you for reading this. Your support means everything to me.**

**I have a few more notes at the bottom after you finish reading this.**

**Disclaimer: Cari-Chan does not own Hetalia, Pokémon, or any of its characters (though I wish I did). Cari-Chan makes no profit off of this story.**

**Warnings: Some cursing and characters being rude.**

**I hope that you like it!**

* * *

Alfred nuzzled into the warm comforter on his bed, his mind still unconscious during his slumber. Sunlight shimmered through the window, illuminating his golden hair and warming his skin. It was a peaceful, serene moment, something rare for the teen.

Then Fletchling charged in.

"Wha—?" Alfred sat bolt upright as the small bird Pokémon rammed into his chest. And just like that, Fletchling was gone.

Alfred let out a cross an exasperated sigh and a breathy laugh once his nerves had calmed down. His mom's Fletchling never had been calm or docile. Though it sometimes served to annoy people, Alfred found the Pokémon quite amusing.

Deciding that now was as good a time as any to get up, Alfred swung out of bed and stood up to stretch. Feeling a bit more limber, he headed down the stairs. His mother seemed to be preparing breakfast, her Fletchling roosted near her.

"Hey mom," Alfred said around a yawn. "How're ya?"

"Alfred!" The older woman smiled, her tan skin crinkling as she smiled. "Good morning. I thought you would never get out of bed."

"I didn't either," the blonde chuckled, "Fletchling woke me up."

His mom's smile widened. "I see." Her smile fell slightly as she took in her son's attire. "Alfred, dearest, do you think that you could go back upstairs and change? I don't want you parading around in your pajamas all day."

Alfred blushed as his gaze shifted to his clothes and then to the ground. "Right. I'll be back in a second."

Marching back up the stairs to his room, Alfred glanced around for something that he could wear. His room, as always, was a complete mess. After he rummaged through his clothes for a bit, he found his brown leather jacket with the fluffy fur collar. He loved the jacket dearly (though even he didn't quite know why) and was almost angry with himself for leaving it on the floor.

One pair of jeans and an undershirt later, Alfred took in his reflection in the mirror. His hair was a little messed up but it looked like one of those cool tousled looks so he decided to leave it be. Satisfied with his appearance, Alfred turned around and went back down the stairs.

"Better mom?" Alfred asked teasingly.

"Much," She laughed. "I'm so proud that my sixteen year old son can get himself dressed."

Alfred playfully stuck out his tongue as his mom continued to chuckle. "Can I have breakfast now?"

"Of course," His mother smiled. "Grab a plate and serve yourself."

Alfred scurried to find a plate and piled on bacon, eggs, and a waffle. Waffles were amazing but there had only been two and it wouldn't have been nice to take his mom's share.

"Dear," Alfred stopped shoveling food into his mouth for a moment to look up at his mother, "I think that it would be a good idea for you to go talk to the neighbors."

Alfred set his fork and knife down. "What? We moved into here two days ago. Shouldn't I give it some more time?"

"Alfred," The older woman fixed him with a look, "two days is more than enough time. Besides, one of the kids asked me if they could talk to you after I told them I had a son."

Alfred paused, going over his options. He sighed. "You're gonna force me to do it anyways, aren't ya?"

"Of course!" She smiled. "I don't see why you don't want to meet new people. You were always looking to make more friends back at home."

"Yeah," Alfred stabbed at his eggs halfheartedly. "It's just weird, ya know? I feel like I'm just ripping up my old life and betraying my friends. Like they never existed in the first place."

"You're being silly, Alfred," His mother reassured. "It's only been two days. I don't think that anyone expects you to forget them entirely, but you don't need to mope."

Alfred smiled at that. "You're right. You're always right. How do you do that?"

"Alfred, I'm your mother. I'm _always_ right."

.:*~*:..:*~*:..:*~*:..:*~*:..:*~*:.

Once his plate was cleared and his stomach full, Alfred waved goodbye to his mother and stepped outside. Her Ryhorn was resting on its blanket, under the shade of a tree. It seemed that the Pokémon had just woken up, if the large yawn it let out was any indicator.

"Still tired?" Alfred asked the Rock type rhetorically. "C'mon, the sun is already up!"

A weak groan was the sound that answered him.

"Aw, don't be like that," The teen cooed as he went over to pet Ryhorn. The Pokémon nuzzled into his hand slightly, his hard body moving against his skin.

"Hello."

Alfred practically jumped out of his skin when a quiet, wispy voice floated past his ears. Was that a ghost? Please don't be a ghost please don't be a ghost please don't—

Alfred turned around and nearly cried in relief. There was no ghost. Just two other teenagers that had come up the walkway to his house.

"Hey," Alfred flashed them a grin. "What's up?"

"The sky," The one to the left said in deep, smooth tone. His blond hair looked like a mess (but not really bad, per say) and his eyes were a brilliant green. Alfred could tell that he had an accent but couldn't exactly pin it…

"I'm fine, thank you," Alfred turned his gaze towards the quieter male. This one was a bit taller, his hair longer and a shade or two darker than his firend's. "You're Alfred, right? You just moved in?"

"Yup!" Alfred nodded. "My name's Alfred F. Jones — oh, you already knew that." He heard the green eyed blonde snort. "I'm sixteen and I just moved here from the Orre Region. It's nice to meet ya!" The last part was said with more enthusiasm and he stuck his hand out.

"I'm Matthew Williams," The quieter teen — Matthew said, accepting Alfred's offered hand. "I'm sixteen, too. I was born and raised in the Kalos Region."

The other teen regarded them as Matthew introduced himself. Alfred took his hand from Matthew's and held it out to him. "So who're you?"

He scoffed and crossed his arms, pointedly ignoring Alfred's presented hand and his hurt expression. "My name is Arthur Kirkland and I'm seventeen. I moved to Kalos from Unova a few years back and _I_ don't lie about where I'm from."

Alfred lowered his hand, somewhat stung and incredibly confused. "What?"

"I have never heard of the Oar Region," Arthur sneered. "Besides, such a ridiculous name has to be made up."

"Um, it's pronounced Orre," Alfred explained, "not 'oar' like the paddle. And it's a real region. Just not as well known as Sinnoh and Kanto."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "_Right_. Then why, pray tell, is it not well known?"

Alfred was starting to not like this guy. Not hate him, but it was annoying that Arthur was accusing him of lying about his home. "We don't have an Elite Four or a Champion. After the whole Cypher thing, stuff really quieted down."

Arthur glared for another moment before he scowled. "Of course," he drawled sarcastically. "That makes _complete_ sense."

"Dude, calm down." Alfred held his hands up in a mock surrender position.

"Arthur," Matthew said, his voice soft, "be nice to Alfred. He just got here…"

"When you feel ready to tell the truth," Arthur snapped, ignoring Matthew, "then I'll bloody 'calm down.'"

"Okay…" Alfred took a step back from Arthur. This guy was not on his favorite people list.

"Arthur," Matthew repeated, a bit louder this time, "we're here to take Alfred to Aquacorde Town, not harass him."

"Why are we going to… Aquacorde Town?" Alfred asked, testing the name on his tongue.

"Professor Rome wants us to complete a task of sorts," Arthur told him with a smirk, sounding far too smug and superior. "We're to go the next town over, through the gates. Think that you can find them all by yourself?"

Alfred forced a smile onto his face and hoped that it didn't look fake. "Yeah, I had to go through there to get here. I know where they are."

Arthur's smirk fell. "Fine then. Are we just going to stand here or are we going to get a move on?" Without waiting for an answer, Arthur spun on his heel and made his way down the walkway, leaving Alfred and Matthew simply standing there.

"I-I should go," Matthew stammered out. "Sorry about Arthur. He's really into geography and history so if he hasn't heard of someplace…"

"He assumes is doesn't exist," Alfred finished for him.

Matthew shuffled his feet. "Yeah. Sorry.

"It's cool," Alfred shrugged off the Kolasian's apology. "Everyone had their bad days at some point."

"He's always in a bad mood," Matthew replied bluntly before he started to walk down the walkway. "I'll see you in Aquacorde Town."

"'Kay!" Alfred waved, "I'm just gonna say bye to Ryhorn." Alfred gestured towards his mom's Pokémon.

Matthew nodded as he turned off of the path. Then he was gone.

Alfred stood there, not moving, before he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Arthur seemed… for lack of better words, like a complete asshole. At least Matthew was okay. Maybe a bit quiet, but he was nice.

… why had he moved to Kalos again?

.:*~*:..:*~*:..:*~*:..:*~*:..:*~*:.

Alfred stuck his hands into his pockets as he walked to Aquacorde Town. It was pretty close and he didn't think that his mom would mind him walking over. What was the worst that could happen?

Alfred soon reached the small town. It was kinda cute and most of the buildings and roads were tan cobblestones. Classy.

"Hey Alfred!"

Alfred turned to his left, trying to locate the owner of the shouting voice. He spotted a pale guy with white hair and red eyes smiling and waving at him. There was some other guy with dark brown hair and glasses sitting to his right. Matthew was on the left and Arthur was one seat away from the Kolasian.

"Hi," Alfred smiled as he walked over to the table. The only seat that was there was the one between Arthur and Matthew. As much as Alfred didn't want to sit next to Arthur, he would rather do that than stand.

"Sup, newbie?" The albino gave a crooked grin.

The brunet rolled his eyes. "Really Gilbert? Is that the best thing that you could come up with?"

"What?" Gilbert gawked, seemingly dumbfounded by his companion. "That response was totally awesome! You just have too much of a stick up your ass like Kirkland."

"Go rot in hell," Arthur snapped.

"Um, guys?" Matthew spoke up. "Shouldn't we tell Alfred about our task?"

"You're totally right Mattie!" Gilbert exclaimed, his attention instantly being redirected.

"Idiot," the bespectacled teen rolled his eyes, "at least introduce yourself first." Turning to face Alfred, he said, "My name is Roderich. It's a pleasure to meet you, Alfred."

"Uh, likewise," Alfred responded. The gut was a little stiff, but he wasn't bad.

"I'm Gilbert the Awesome," Gilbert all but yelled. "You can call me Your Awesomeness, or The Awesome, or —"

"Shut _up_." Arthur growled. "No one cares."

"But anyways," Gilbert continued like Arthur had never spoken, "we need a name for you."

"What?" Alfred asked, confused. "My name is Alfred. Why would I need a name if I already have one?"

Gilbert stared before he started cackling. Roderich sighed. "He means a nickname."

"Oh," Alfred nodded his head in understanding. "That makes sense. But still —"

"What about Birdie?" Gilbert suggested, ceasing his laughter and interrupting Alfred.

"That's ridiculous," Roderich sneered.

"You got a better one?"

"It's have, not got, you buffoon," Roderich sniffed. "And yes, I do. What about…" he paused, scrambling for a name. "Why can't we just call him by his name?" Roderich heatedly glared at Gilbert.

"What about Al?" Matthew titled his head. "It makes sense, I guess…"

"I'm all for calling him Wanker," Arthur's lip quirked cruelly.

Alfred didn't know what a 'wanker' was, but he felt his eye twitch at the condescending manner. "I will not be called wanker, sorry."

"We have to call you something!" Gilbert protested. "My awesome idea has to work!"

Alfred regarded his options for a moment. None of them were good. "Can you just call me Aru-kun?"

All of the heads whipped into his direction. Roderich raised an eyebrow. "Aru-kun?"

"What type of bloody name is that?" Arthur couldn't seem to decide if he wanted to be annoyed or amused.

"Um," Alfred rubbed the back of his neck, "that's what Kiku calls me. He's from the Kanto region so… yeah."

"What?" Gilbert looked completely baffled. "I don't get it."

"Aru was what my shortened name would sound like if I lived in Kanto," Alfred explained. "And kun is… it's like something you add onto the end of a guy's name. It kinda means that you're friends with that person."

Silence.

"I like it," Matthew said eventually, his voice barely audible.

Gilbert shrugged. "Not as awesome as my idea, but it's still kind of awesome. What do you think, Roddy?"

"It's good enough," Roderich tilted his head back and pointed his nose into the air. "And stop calling my Roddy."

"I'm still calling you Wanker." Arthur informed.

_Well you're an ass so I don't give a shit,_ Alfred snarked in his head. Outwardly, he beamed. "Sounds good! So, um, what was the task thing?"

"Oh, right!" Gilbert pulled out three spheres with a red top and a white bottom; Pokéballs.

"Professor Rome wants us to take a Pokémon and go on an adventure," Matthew explained at Alfred's excited expression.

"Seriously?" Alfred couldn't stop grinning. "I'm going to get a Pokémon?!"

"Yes, you wanker," Arthur rolled his eyes. "Now stop yelling."

Gilbert clicked the button on each of the Pokéballs and bright, white light flashed. It immediately formed three distinct shapes before there was a final glimmer. Three small Pokémon stood on the table.

One of them stood on four legs, its shape somewhat resembling that of a dog. Glossy yellow fur covered its body and large ears branched from its head. Alfred had to admit, it was pretty cute.

The one next to it was harder to describe. It was brown with a green hat thing (?) covering its head. Small arms swiveled by its side. The Pokémon was exotic more than anything else.

The last one was incredibly frog-like. It was light blue with a small scarf that appeared to be made of bubbles around its neck. Large yellow eyes met Alfred's gaze, unblinking and unfearful.

"Dude," Alfred was practically trembling with excitement, "this is amazing."

Gilbert grinned and even Roderich managed to crack a smile. "Yeah," the albino's red eyes softened as if he was remembering something happy, "getting you're first Pokémon is always a huge deal."

Matthew seemed just as enraptured as Alfred was while Arthur looked indifferent. Finally, the sarcastic blonde spoke up. "Well, I'll just take —"

"Oh no," Gilbert cut in. "Not so fast."

"Gilbert and I talked before you got here," Roderich said, "and we agreed to let Alfred have first pick. This is a good pick me up after moving."

"Really?!" Alfred almost shrieked. Arthur recoiled.

"Yup," Gilbert nodded. "Go for it."

Alfred nodded frantically, trying to express his thanks without words. He then turned to the Pokémon and sobered up. He needed to be serious about this. The Pokémon he chose now would be his partner for life.

The yellow dog one looked somewhat frail, with its petite from and all. It's ears had swiveled back and it seemed to regard Alfred warily. It was cute, but Alfred wasn't looking for a cute partner.

The green and brown one was obviously hyperactive, seeing as it couldn't keep still with a grin splitting its face. Alfred smiled at all of its energy. The spiny headgear looked sharp to the touch. Not bad armor to have in a battle.

The teen's gaze moved to the frog. It seemed to have a cheerful air about it smiling ever so slightly. It met Alfred's blue-eyed stare like it had before, not flinching. It seemed… calm but kind of fun.

So, which one to pick? The shy dog, the ditzy… something, or the serenely happy frog.

Well, when it was put like that, there was only one decision that made sense.

"That one," Alfred said with a smile of his own, pointing at his choice.

"Froakie?" Gilbert questioned rhetorically. He nodded and handed Alfred one of the Pokéballs with a smile. "It's a Water type. He's all yours."

"Thanks!" Alfred chirped. He then turned his attention to Froakie and extended his hand to him. "I'm Alfred! It's nice to meet you!"

Froakie made a small squeaking noise before its smile grew and he bounded up Alfred's arm to rest on his shoulder.

"Wow," Matthew breathed out, "Froakie trusts you already…"

"I guess he just likes me," Alfred gave Matthew a thumbs up and a wink.

Arthur glared stonily at Alfred and rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to give him a nickname?" Matthew asked.

"Sure," Alfred turned his head to look at the Pokémon resting on his shoulder. "I think I'm gonna call you Hero."

"Sounds good to me!" Gilbert assured, speaking before Arthur could open his mouth and say something rude. "Mattie, it's your turn."

"What?" Arthur practically growled. "I should be able to have second pick at the very least!"

"Nope~!" Gilbert sang.

Matthew took his own turn and looked over the remaining two. "Um…" he went to pick up the dog, "what's this one's name?"

"That's Fennekin," Roderich told the Kolasian, handing him the Pokémon's Pokéball. "It's a Fire type Pokémon."

Matthew nodded. "Okay. Nice to meet you, Fennekin."

Arthur sighed heavily. "What is mine called?" He asked, obviously upset.

"This is Chespin!" Gilbert snickered. "He's a Grass type. And he's your new best friend!"

"Lovely," Arthur grumbled as he accepted the Pokéball.

"And here," Roderich reached into a bag and produced three devices that Alfred hadn't seen before. "These are Pokédexes. It will automatically record Pokémon that you have seen and encountered. However, in order to get the full information of a Pokémon onto the Pokédex you need to capture it."

"Huh," Alfred took one of the black devices, Hero staring curiously at it. "Cool. Thanks."

Matthew stared at his in fascination while Arthur simply stuffed it into his bag.

"And you need this, too," Gilbert handed Alfred an envelope. Both Pokémon and trainer alike regarded it. "It's a letter from Professor Rome explaining that you're going on a journey. Give it to you parents."

Alfred nodded and accepted the letter.

"Well if that's all," Arthur said as he stood up, Chespin scrambling off of the table to stand by his trainer's feet, "I'm leaving. I don't want to be in your presence right now."

"Thanks," Gilbert snorted. He then turned to Roderich and grabbed onto the brunet. "Let's go Pokémon hunting!"

"What?" Roderich exclaimed as he was dragged towards the opposite end of town. Arthur had stopped moving by this point, simply watching the two. Eventually, he sighed and sat back down. Chespin struggled to get back onto the table. After a moment of silence, he sneered at Alfred. "What are you still doing here?"

"Nothing, I guess," Alfred drawled cautiously as he stood. "I'll see you later then?"

"If I get my wish, then you won't," Arthur gave Alfred a cruel smirk.

The taller blonde decided to just drop it. "C'mon, Hero." At his trainer's voice, the Pokémon leaped from Alfred's shoulder to walk along side of him. "We gotta go give this letter to mom, then we can go. Okay?"

An affirmative chirp came from Hero.

"Sweet," Alfred grinned. "Then let's go."

Alfred and Hero both started to bound back towards the gates of Vanville Town. However, they were soon halted by a wavering voice.

"Wait!" Alfred skidded to a stop and turned to see Matthew racing after him. He waited patiently for the quiet teen to reach him. "I… I was wondering if we could maybe battle? But only if you want to!" Matthew added hastily. "I just wanted to let Maple have her first battle with someone I knew and I don't want to challenge Arthur because he's… well, Arthur…"

"Dude, it's totally cool," Alfred smiled. Alfred flashed a determined look to his Pokémon. "Are you up for it, Hero?"

"Fro!" The Water type leaped in front of his trainer, staring challengingly at Fennekin.

"O-okay," Matthew breathed out. "Maple, try using Ember!"

The Fox Pokémon took a long moment to inhale, filling its lungs, before a fleet of small was launched from its mouth, aimed for Hero.

"Crap!" Alfred panicked at the sight of the Fire attack. "Try to dodge it!"

Hero leaped to his right, but was unable to move out of the attack's range. Alfred was proud, though, to see his Pokémon take the attack without faltering.

"Alright, it's our turn now!" Alfred yelled. "Use Bubble!"

Hero immediately started to fire off its Water type attack, bubble swarming towards Maple. Matthew didn't even have enough time to respond before his Pokémon was swamped.

"Maple!" Matthew cried. "Are you okay?" The Fennekin wobbled on its feet, but gave her trainer a nod. "Let's try Scratch, then."

"Fe!" Maple started to charge at Hero, her small claws ready to inflict damage.

"Use Bubble again!" Alfred commanded. "Before it gets you!"

Hero repeated his earlier attack, the move racing towards Maple head-on.

"Get out of the way!" Matthew shrieked. Alas, it was too late. Maple was engulfed in the attack and thrown backwards, taking serious damage from the type effective move.

"Let's finish this one up with Pound!" Alfred cheered. He could taste the sweetness of victory as Hero delivered the final blow. Maple swayed for a moment. Then she was down, knocked out cold.

"We won!" Alfred swept Hero into his arms. "You were amazing!"

"Roakie!" Hero cried with delight at both his first win and his trainer's excitement.

"That was a good battle," Alfred stopped his celebration to turn to Matthew. "You and Hero are a great team."

"Maple was pretty awesome, too," Alfred grinned. "I just had the Water to Fire advantage."

"Thanks," Matthew bowed his head and Alfred swore that he could see a blush for a moment. "I-I'm going to get going. I'll meet up with you on Route One after you deliver your letter. I-if that's all right with you."

"Sure!" Alfred waved, taking a few steps away. "I'll see you then. Hero, I'll race you back home!"

As Alfred and Hero sprinted back to Vanville Town, both were thinking the same thing in their own respective languages.

_This is the perfect start to a new adventure_.

* * *

**A/N: Done~! Was it okay?**

**That ending line killed me.**

**The fic is called Stepping Stones because in the Pokémon games, you need to follow a specific set of steps in order to complete the game. The only variations are your name, gender, and the Pokémon you capture. Your character (and Pokémon) is also supposed to grow throughout the game, so there's another reason. Finally, stepping stones kind of remind me of a river and Alfred's starter is a Water type. See the connection?**

**Orre is actually a region. It's in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. People have told me that Orre doesn't exist. I have told them to look it up. Guess who's right?**

**Alfred's the hero of the story. Enough said.**

**So, the other characters. It's hard to tell, but Alfred's mom is supposed to be Native America. **

**Matthew is Shauna. I decided to do this because Shauna is all about making friends and seeing the world in the games (or that's the impression that I got). I think that Matthew would want to shed his 'invisibility cloak' and become stronger, so it matched up. Mostly.**

**Arthur is Calem/Serena/Your main rival. He and Alfred are always trying to one up the other so I thought that they would make good rivals.**

**Gilbert is Tierno. Instead of being into dancing, though, he's into being awesome.**

**Roderich is Trevor. I needed a smart character and Austria fit the bill. Besides, Tierno and Trevor appeared to be good friends in the game. I think that Gilbert and Roderich are, too. They just bicker a lot.**

**Rome is Professor ****Sycamore. The laid back personality fit. And he's _Rome_. I had to give him a good role.**

**And that's all I've got. I hope you liked this!**

**Please review, favorite, and follow (if I decide to make this multi-chapter instead of a one-shot).**


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